Final from Saturday night, at First National Bank Field:
Greenville Drive 12, Greensboro Grasshoppers 7
(This is our Fred Anderson Toyota of Raleigh Game Report.)
WP:Griffin Kilander(1-0)/LP:Jose Garces(1-2)
Drive' Line- 12- 2-0 Hoppers' Line-7-10-1
Greensboro Grasshoppers(53-33/12-8) and in the battle of their lives, for the South Atlantic League Second Half Title, while the Greenville Drive are now(35-48)…..
Hoopers led early, in this game, having gained a 1-0 advantage on Yordany De Los Santos’ 12th Home Run of the season…Grasshoppers made it a 4-1 Hoppers lead, on Murf Gray’s Two-Run Home Run in the Bottom of the Third Inning…Greenville tied it up at 4-4, the Hoppers went on top, 7-4, in the Bottom of the Eighth Inning…But the Greeville Drive responded with Three Runs in the Top of the Ninth Inning, and the game was deadlocked at 7-7, headed into Extra Innings…
Neither team scored in the Tenth Frame, and then the Greeville Drive posted 5 Runs, to run out in front of the Hoppers, 12-7, in the Eleventh Inning..Eleven Innings, and it was over…The Grasshoppers had those 4-1, and 7-4 leads, and could not put this game away…Greenville kept coming, and the Hoppers just sort of stopped…
With the Hoppers on top 4-1 in the Seventh Inning, I thought they had this game…Then a ground ball got past the Hoppers’ Jhonny Severino in left field, and the Drive were able to score two runs, and tie the score up, at 4-4…So, the fielding error goes on Severino, but what does he do??? In the Bottom of the Seventh Inning, Severino hits a LOOOOOOONG Home Run to right field, and the Hoppers were in front there, at 7-4…Severino gave up two runs in the field, and then he came back, and got those two runs back with his Smack to Right…
I again started to thinking that the Hoppers had this game…Late in the ballgame, and the Grasshoppers were leading 7-4, but like we remember, it was not OVER, by any stretch of the imagintion…The Greenville Drive just kept coming at the Hoppers, until finally, the Drive were on top, and they were making plans for the WIN…
Hoppers with Four Home Runs in this game, but the Drive had Five Home Runs…Greenville’s Enddy Azocar with Two Home Runs, and for the game, Azocar went 2-6/2 HR’s/2 Runs/4 RBI…Greenville had Yoeilin Cespedes going 2-5/HR/BB/2 Runs/2 RBI…Yophery Rodriguez was 2-6/HR/2 Runs/2 RBI…Antonio Anderson was 2-5/Run/RBI…And that’s 8 of the Drive’s 12 hits right there…
Hoppers’ Hitters were going like this:Yordany De Los Santos went 2-5/HR/Double/2 Runs/RBI…Easton Carmichael was 2-5/Home Run/2 Runs/2 RBI…Murf Gray went 2-4/HR/Double/BB/2 Runs/2 RBI…Axiel Plaz 1-5….Jhonny Severino was 1-5/HR/1 Run/2 RBI…Brian Sanchez 1-4…Dylan Palmer 1-5…
Murf Gray at the plate for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, see below…..
Hoppers’ Losing Pitcher Jose Garces went 1 Inning, giving up 5 Runs, on 4 Hits, with 3 BB/0 K, and he gave up one Home Run…The Drive’ Winning Pitcher, Griffin Kilander worked 3 1/3 Innings, allowing 0 Runs, on 0 Hits, with 1 BB/4 Ks…
Our REMAX Revolution Player of the Game was the Hoppers’ Starting Pitcher, Hung-Leng Chang, who went 6 Innings, giving up 1 Run, on 2 Hits, with 3 BBs/1 K, and he served up One Home Run…Another POG honor went to the Hoppers’ Axiel Plaz, for the fine defensive work, he was doing over at and around First Base….
Game Details:
Attendance-3,228
Time of Game-3:11
Game Time Temp-79 Degrees
Up Next:Greenville Drive(35-48/9-11) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(53-33/12-8) on Sunday afternoon, at 2pm…Game coming up, in Beautiful Downtown Greensboro, at First National Bank Field…Kids will get to Play Catch on the Field before the game, and they will get the chance to run the bases after the game…Family Fun Day Sunday, at FNB Field…CLICK HERE to Listen Live to Sunday’s game, with Bryant Roche from the News and Record joining for the Sunday broadcast…We had Matt Kerr(Kurve) from the Hoppers’ staff, with us on Saturday night….
+++++++++++from Callie Cline, at www.gsohoppers.com….+++++++++++++
GRASSHOPPERS FALL 12-7 IN EXTRA INNINGS
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro Grasshoppers fell to the Greenville Drive, 12-7 in extra innings, on Saturday, July 11. With the win, Greenville improved to 9-11 in the second half, while Greensboro dropped to 12-8. The Drive outhit the Grasshoppers, 12-10, while Greensboro committed one error.
Designated hitter Murf Gray paced the Grasshoppers’ offense, going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Easton Carmichael also turned in a strong performance, finishing 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. Additional hits for Greensboro came from Yordany De Los Santos (2), Axiel Plaz, Jhonny Severino, Brian Sanchez, and Dylan Palmer.
Greenville was led offensively by infielder Enddy Azocar, who went 2-for-6 with two home runs, four RBI, and two runs scored. Infielder Yoeilin Cespedes added a 2-for-5 effort with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. Gerardo Rodriguez (2), Antonio Anderson (2), Isaiah Jackson, Mason White, Ronny Hernandez, and Hudson White also recorded hits for the Drive.
Right-handed pitcher Hung-Leng Chang made the start for Greensboro, allowing one earned run on two hits while issuing three walks and striking out one over six innings. Jose Garces (1-2) was charged with the loss in relief.
Left-handed pitcher Devin Futrell started for Greenville, striking out five while allowing four earned runs on six hits and one walk over 4.2 innings. Griffin Kilander earned his first win of the season for the Drive.
The Grasshoppers finish up their home series against the Greenville Drive tomorrow, Sunday July 12 at 2:00 PM for Family Funday Sunday. To purchase tickets to any home Grasshoppers game please call 336-268-2255 or visit gsohoppers.com.